Samurai 7

Samurai 7's story may be typical but asking seven men to defend an entire village from bandits and the Emperor is not something you could see on a day-to-day basis. This is an adaptation of the 1954 movie by Akira Kurosawa, Seven Samurai, considered a masterpiece. This anime certainly does it justice.

The village of Kanna is in a dilemma. They have to give away almost all of their rice every year to the bandits. The invaders have also taken women and children. Without any other choice, the village leader sent three people out to look for help. They looked for samurai who are willing to work in exchange for rice because they don't have anything else to pay for the services.

The three villagers, Kirara Mikumari (water maiden), Komachi Mikumari (Kirara's little sister) and Rikichi, set out for the capital. They met Shimada Kambei who at first rejected their offer. The rest of the seven samurai are: Okamoto Katsushiro, a youngster willing to learn to fight for the first time; Katayama Gorobei, who earned his living as a performer and is skilled at invading projectiles; Shichiroji, Kanbei's long-time friend, whose girlfriend the other characters will also meet later; Kikuchiyo, a cyborg samurai who is well-loved for being loud and cheerful; Hayashida Heihachi, the mechanic of the group and known for his precision in swinging an ax (for chopping wood). He is haunted by his past; and Kyuzo, the silent and deadly former bodyguard of Ayamaro who considers Kanbei his greatest rival. They promised to battle each other once their task is done.

While looking for samurai to hire, Kirara was kidnapped by Ukyo's men to be a part of his harem. Ukyo will play a big role later on in the series. Kirara was rescued and Ukyo since then tried to pursue the group.

During their adventures, they met Shichiroji's girlfriend, and the Moribito whom they learned had a contract with the Nobuseri (bandits). Kikuchiyo was captured but was successfully rescued.

Later when they were preparing for an attack in the village, they discovered that there was a traitor among the villagers. At episode 16, Gorobei dies and thus marks the start of terrible losses that were soon to come. Meanwhile, Kambei went to the capital and claimed that he killed the royal envoy. He was to be executed.

Ayamaro's foster son, Ukyo, by this time was proclaimed as the next emperor. But he could not wait to take the throne and decided to murder the emperor Amanushi. This also gave him the freedom to exact his revenge against the villagers of Kanna and the remaining samurai.

Ukyo ordered the samurai in the country to help the other villagers and follow the example of the seven. At the same time he also ordered the Nobuseri to continue harassing the farmers. Through this, he can incite a war and get a chance to eliminate both sides at the same time. He would also appear to be a kind emperor by helping villagers against the Nobuseri.

Kambei managed to escape being executed. They made their way back to the village and prepared for the battle. Katsushiro left the group after a spat with Kanbei. He went back to the village alone and oversaw the preparations.

Kambei and the others tried to get into the capital. When they found Ukyo, they failed to kill him even if Kanbei wounded him. Meanwhile, Katsushiro assisted Heihachi in separating the engine from the capital. Heihachi died in the process.

Later when Katsushiro met the rest of the group, they had to fight their way out of a room. As Kanbei was about to be stabbed from behind, Katsushiro picked up a gun and fired, not knowing Kyuzo was standing just behind the enemy. They lost Kyuzo in the battle. Kukichiyo also perished when he tried to block the capital from going further and reaching the village. The cyborg samurai melted as Ukyo fell down the ravine clutching his cut abdomen.

***

It's one of the best series I have seen. The fight scenes were good and I wish I could have seen Kanbei and Kyuzo battle the second time. But what really got me into this 26-episode masterpiece was the story. There is nothing special or unusual about it yes, but it was able to affect me emotionally with its themes of love, friendship, bravery and even death. I was sad to see some of the characters go, but this is better than the other series who do not touch this theme. Death is as important as life.

Ukyo's portrayal was effective too because by the middle of the series, I was really pissed off with the character, although his obsession was justified. The part where they tried to rescue Rikichi's wife also made me angry. But it was explained well why she decided to do such a thing.

I liked the opening and ending themes as well. The animation was good too. I liked the slow-mo scenes with Gorobei in action. The battle scenes did not drag on and on and there was less talk involved, something which is so common in other anime with the same genre. It wasn't short on comedy as well. But overall, the atmosphere of sadness pervades the series. Most of the characters seem to have a shadow beneath their smiles. Not that this is a bad thing at all. It lends a maturity to the series and lets the viewer think about certain things in life.

I would not recommend this to people who are looking for a feel-good series. And this is not certainly for people who want to see weak youngsters trying to get into the battlefield. This anime is about fighters (except perhaps Katsushiro) who are tired of oppression and wars and see the inevitability of death. This isn't about success and growth, but about how to accept defeat but still try to hope for the better and to try to make something good out of the bad.

This anime gets a 10 out of 10 rating.